Second Sight: Complete Collection

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All Rise...

Judge Adam Arseneau's private eyes are watching you. They see your every move.

The Charge

His second sight is his second chance.

Opening Statement

An early example of Clive Owen doing what he does best—namely, being
intense—BBC's Second Sight appeared on American public television
briefly without much fanfare. So why release this series now on DVD to North
American audiences? Shame on you, gentle reader; you shouldn't even need to ask.
Hollywood is currently working on a big-screen adaptation. Is there any other
reason?

Facts of the Case

Detective Chief Ross Tanner (Clive Owen, Inside Man) is an ambitious and
successful officer put in charge of a task force to investigate the brutal
murder of a teenager. His team consists of dozens of officers, including DI
Catherine Tully (Claire Skinner, Bridget Jones's Diary), an
ambitious detective with a clouded past.

Tanner is cocky and arrogant; a magnificent detective but lacking in his
personal life, estranged from his son and her mother. Then suddenly, Tanner
begins losing his sight. It starts gradually—a peculiar halo effect
clouding his vision that comes and goes, but soon alarms him enough to go to the
doctor. The doctors tell him he suffers from a rare viral condition that will
eventually rob him of all his sight. Tanner is defiant and angry and insists on
a second opinion, but the reality of his situation soon becomes clear: he is
going blind, and when the brass finds out, he'll lose his job—the only
thing in his life worth a damn.

Tully finds out about his condition through good old fashioned deduction,
and confronts Tanner. Desperate to conceal his condition, Tully agrees to assist
him in protecting his secret, working out a partnership that lets Tully act as
Tanner's 'eyes'—for a price. Tully has her own demons, and she needs
Tanner to succeed at his task force to further her own career. It is a partner
of mutual benefits, and the two soon find themselves partnering in other
ways.

As a bizarre side effect to the diminishing sight, Tanner begins to
experience peculiar visual hallucinations; strange and nonsensical imagery and
strange magnification of his other senses. He is confused at first, but soon
realizes that these visions may hold the key to unlocking the key to the
murder…

Second Sight: Complete Collection contains both series of the show,
as aired on BBC One in 2000-2001:

Series One • "Second Sight, Parts One and
Two"

Series Two • "Hide and Seek"
• "Parasomnia" • "Kingdom of the
Blind"

The Evidence

Second Sight is a tricky show to review. On paper, it is a fine crime
drama with a novel twist; a slow-moving procedural drama in the style that the
BBC excel at. The writing is taut and melancholic with a marvelous performance
from an up-and-coming star Clive Owen. So why is it such a ponderous drag to
actually sit down and watch?

Like I said: tricky. I can rattle off endless reasons why I admire and
appreciate the show, but having sat through its two series run, I have basically
forgotten about it in a matter of days. The concept is novel, if a bit gimmicky:
an intense and slightly jerky police officer struck by a viral condition that
messes with his eyesight, rendering him helpless and dependant on a plucky
female officer for sight. His tattered and damaged brain sends his eyes bizarre
signals, broken bits and flashes of nonsensical imagery that he then interprets
as vital clues to solve whichever case he happens to be working on at the time.
It all works out just a little too well, if you know what I mean.

The first series in actuality is little more than a pilot; a two-hour BBC
event to test the waters with audiences to see if audiences would go for it.
They did, and a second set of episodes were ordered, but there's something
distinctly missing in the second series; a je ne sais quoi of urgency in Owen's
performance, an unpredictability in the story. The first series was good, hence
the second—but turning the story of a cop gradually losing his sight into
a series kind of loses some of the dramatic punch. It's not like they're going
to actually take his sight; instead, he just loses it in slower increments. Good
stories all, but Second Sight doesn't really bring the same intensity the second
time through.

Still, there is much to like about the show. True seasoned procedural drama
fans will find the intricate ins and outs to their liking, which can be
surprisingly involved. A few times I found myself rewinding because I hadn't
been keeping up with the dialogue and got lost, narrative-wise. I actually took
this as a plus. I'm not saying you won't be able to predict the outcome of the
mysteries—trust me, you will—but the writing is certainly on par
with other great BBC shows. And in terms of performances, it's hard to
understate Clive Owen in the role; a fresh-faced and youthful angry bastard
going blind and smashing up whisky bottles, rolling around in heady angst.
What's not to love?

Second Sight has its fans, but I can't really count myself among
them. The whole failing eyesight and prophetic vision angle is a fresh twist,
but it gets old fast. Once you take that out of the mix, there's not much to
distinguish the series from any of the other marvelous procedural dramas and
mystery programming coming out of the UK. Tanner and Tully end up romantically
entangled, but the actors don't really show much in the way of chemistry
together. Clive Owen is the best part of this show; without him, it would be all
too easy to dismiss it and move on, but he brings enough intensity to bear on
the role that Second Sight justifies a viewing—barely.

As transfers go, Second Sight: Complete Collection is a clean, full
frame presentation with natural color, sharp and clean. At times, the picture
quality is most impressive, with remarkable detail in close-up shots of skin
details. Some speckling and print imperfections pop up here and there, and the
expected ghosting and edge aliasing crops up now and again, but otherwise a
solid television transfer. Some of the special effects used to simulate elements
of Tanner's hallucinations are downright cheesy. Audio is a simple stereo
presentation, but dialogue is not always as clear; expect to do some volume
fiddling to get the levels right throughout the show. A lack of subtitles makes
it particularly challenging in this regard. The score is a smoky jazzy electric
homage to film noir and vintage private investigator films, like a modern Mike
Hammer and suits the show magnificently.

Despite this being a five-disc set, there's not a single extra present.

Closing Statement

A slow-moving, detailed and brooding police procedural drama with a gimmicky
twist, Second Sight is a marvelous showcase for Owen's intense
performance; definitely an early indication of how successful his career would
become. Unfortunately, the show lacks the grab factor to make it a mandatory
watch for North America audiences.